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How a former Mr. SoCal Leather is making America laugh again using Melania, Ivanka & Stormy Daniels
Moshiel Newman Daphna's NYC theater debut draws inspiration from the former president's follies, but it's the women who get the last laugh.
It practically wrote itself. Decades of misogynist tendencies, infidelities, and baffling relationships are theatrical dreams that even Shakespeare couldn’t conjure. But leave it to the pouty former president to surround himself with complex women deserving of their own clapback musical.
Five: The Parody Musical plays off the wildly successful Broadway hit Six, which gathers Henry VIII’s wives in a concert-like setting to sing of their martial woes with the British monarch. A new unconventional theatrical team shines a similar light on Ivana, Marla, Melania, Stormy, and Ivanka — with a special appearance by our favorite power suit presidential candidate from the 2016 election.
Book and lyric writer Moshiel Newman Daphna (who’s also one of the show’s producers) proves that the American dream is for the taking, whether you’re an adult film star, Slovenian fashion model, or Mr. SoCal Leather — a title Daphna grabbed by the harness in 2023.
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From seminary student to photographer to international drag persona Lady SinAGaga, Daphna has never shied away from his intersectional identity. His collaboration with Shimmy Braun and Billy Reece results in a musical theater romp down memory lane, as each woman recounts their relationship with the man who once said, “Our country has never been so disrespected as it is right now. It’s a laughing stock all over the world.”
Daphna is getting the last laugh now, with the campy production extended through April 21. Queerty caught up with the multi-hyphenate to chat about the show’s creation, his most memorable musical theater moment, and dream collab with another queer creator.
Five: The Parody Musical practically wrote itself. One of the craziest real-life moments with Trump’s women that we had to bring to the stage was…
While the musical “in the concept” wrote itself, a lot of the situations and moments are totally cooked up in the sick, twisted brains of my collaborators Shimmy and Billy. My favorite manufactured moment was actually the last one we came to: “Melania’s Melodiya.” I threw out the idea of using an “At the Ballet” type narrative as the structure for Melania to plead her case of woe. Billy earnestly asked, “But what is her Ballet?” I replied with the stupidest answer and then wrote three monologues set to music, and you’ll just have to see the show to find out!
If I had to pick one of the real-life women portrayed in Five to spend the day with, it’d be ___________. And this is what we’d do…
I’m going to cheat here, maybe spill a li’l insider tea, and say our 11 o’clock number special guest. As the show nears its end, a certain Democratic Diva in a pantsuit shows up, and blows the roof off of Theater 555. I mean how fabulous would it be to just go out dancing with Madame President? Chelsea can tag along, too! It would be a DREAM!
Never underestimate a pantsuit. The one thing you should know about Jasmine Rice LaBeija’s turn as Hillary Clinton is…
From an A to a D, her two-and-a-half-octave range has a wider breadth than anything on the ballot come November!
I’m a multi-hyphenate! Who says you can’t be Mr. SoCal Leather and a musical theater writer? They’re more common than you think…
I think all of life is performance. As queer people, a lot of us have to rely on being someone we aren’t to survive; I try and live my life now, putting on all the hats that feel right! Drag Queen, Leatherman, Writer, why not? Wear them all at who knows what can come next!
At the end of the day, my love is community. And that’s the thread all these “seemingly incongruent identities” have in common: a strong sense of community behind them. As to who in our cast would be found at a leather event, I’d have to say my girl Stormy. She is already quite engrained in our community, an icon in the adult film world, both acting and directorially. I’m pretty sure she knows her way around, probably more than even me!
The show that changed my life…
The very first show I ever saw on Broadway was Peter Pan. It was also the first time I ever saw someone engaging in any sort of gender play, with Cathy Rigby playing Peter. The first show I saw after I came out well over a decade later was Peter Pan at the Pantages, still with Cathy Rigby playing Peter. I remember going over to her in the lobby after, saying thank you and that she was the first person I ever saw on Broadway. I know… a gay guy with Peter Pan Syndrome, groundbreaking!
The LGBTQ+ person I’d love to collaborate with…
My absolute girl crush these days would have to be [2023 Queerties nominee] Chappell Roan. Her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, is, in my opinion, going to become Queer Canon. I think the Midwest Princess meeting the Jewish Drag Queen would be quite a journey. I love how she is just unapologetic in her queerness and command of the full breadth of human emotion.
In an early interview for Five, after reading my short bio, the interviewer asked, “Where is the musical about your life?” I’m just waiting for the day Chappell and I write it while we ride around LA with the top down and the bops blaring!
The gayest thing about me…
The gayest thing about me (while keeping things PG-13) would have to be my Drag Persona, Lady SinAGaga. She is exactly as fabulous as she sounds. Sequins, stilettos, and Stars of David for days, darling.
Laughter might be the best medicine, but come November…
I don’t think there is anything I can say that hasn’t been said. Everything is at stake, which is why I’m so proud to have partnered with Drag out the Vote, an amazing organization that gets people engaged at a local level to get registered. As a partner to a Proud Trans Man, as a Leather Man, as a Jewish Person, as a former Drag Queen, my existence and my living out and proud is activism. This election year, everything I love is truly on the ballot. The only thing we can do is speak up and show up.
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